Ulster ‘Didn’t Make Pressure Pay’ As Winning Run Is Ended By Clermont

A second half resurgence from Clermont Auvergne emulated a fine first period from Ulster at Stade Marcel Michelin, with the 29-13 defeat – Ulster’s first of the current European campaign –  making next Saturday’s round 6 showdown with Bath all the more critical.

Leading 10-9 at half-time thanks to a try, conversion and penalty from John Cooney, Dan McFarland’s side could not contain a much-improved Clermont during the closing 40 minutes, with tries from Alivereti Raka and George Moala depriving them of the consolation of a losing bonus point.

Clermont now top Pool 3 on 20 points with Ulster on 17, but there is still everything to play for in the final round of the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages, as a win against Bath in Belfast could still see the Ulstermen finish in first place, should Clermont slip up against Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.

Ulster head coach McFarland commented afterwards: “We have to win next week and we have to get a minimum of 20 points. There were a couple of occasions in that first half where we didn’t execute as well as we needed to to get the points on the board we needed.

“We’re bitterly disappointed. It was a game we had control of in the first half and we didn’t make our pressure pay when we should have done. The way I look at it is, when they’re down to 14 men and you kick to the corner, if you can’t score tries, you’re not a good enough team to win in Clermont,

“It’s as simple as that. If we take advantage of those opportunities and score, which we’re more than capable of doing, we’d have had a much better chance of going on and winning the game. If we’d have kicked three points there…maybe…but I don’t see Clermont as a team that folds under three extra points of pressure.

“What we can take away is that it’s a game I believe if we played as well as we can do we would have won. It’s a really difficult place to come and if you don’t take your opportunities when you have the chance, you’re going to be under pressure.

“We just needed to maintain that control and we didn’t. Clermont knew they could be in trouble and fair play to them, they’ve got a lot of good players and in the end they pulled through.”

Bolstered by the return of international back rowers Jordi Murphy and Marcell Coetzee, Ulster otherwise lined up unchanged from the team that defeated provincial rivals Munster 38-17 last week in the GUINNESS PRO14.

The visitors had the better of the first half, enjoying 60% of possession and a similar percentage of territorial advantage – and perhaps felt a little disgruntled to run off at the interval only a single point ahead.

An energetic start from the Ulstermen, with Stuart McCloskey in particular instrumental, got them to the Clermont five-metre line within 60 seconds, and with a penalty soon coming when the French outfit failed to roll away, Cooney settled any nerves with a close range kick at goal.

Camille Lopez soon levelled matters courtesy of a drop goal, but the parity was short-lived, as that man Cooney once again made the difference, touching down in the seventh minute after carries and impressively slick passing from forwards Jack McGrath, Sean Reidy and Martin Moore.

The scrum half converted his own try, but the lead was cut to four points at the end of the first quarter thanks to a Morgan Parra penalty. Ulster went on to enjoy good possession, however, and received a shot in the arm on 21 minutes when Parra saw yellow for intentional offside with the visitors only metres from the line.

Billy Burns went for touch but an overthrow at the lineout put paid to any hopes of an immediate score. An intentional slap-down from Fritz Lee soon did offer them a second chance, but tenacious tackling from the hosts dragged Jacob Stockdale into touch.

As Clermont began to find their feet on the half hour mark, Robert Baloucoune gave another illustration of his defensive prowess when his last-gasp tackle on Moala prevented a nailed-on try in the right corner. With Parra now back in the ranks, the France scrum half’s penalty on the stroke of half-time made it a one-point game – 10-9.

An early second half penalty from Parra missed the target, but with Clermont proving more and more dominant at scrum time, their first try was not long in coming, Raka only just brushing the whitewash with the ball and no more after piledriving work from Moala.

Parra converted and tighthead Moore, clearly carrying a knock as he tried to defend the Moala try, made his exit – followed moments later by Will Addison, the recipient of an injury himself to add to the Ulster management’s concerns.

The province slowed things down for a good five minutes before a Clermont offside won them a lineout. With a rolling maul eschewed in favour of swift passing from right to left, the visitors probed and prodded at the Clermont rearguard, eventually forcing an offside penalty on 64 minutes which Cooney dispatched.

Now only 16-13 behind, Ulster did themselves no favours three minutes later by conceding a central penalty of their own, which Parra gratefully put away. Multiple changes saw Kieran Treadwell, Matthew Rea, David Shanahan and Bill Johnston come on for the final ten minutes.

Despite those fresh legs, another costly scrum penalty allowed Scotland’s Greig Laidlaw – recently on for Parra – to edge Ulster out of losing bonus point territory with just over eight minutes remaining.

Moala, who was impressive throughout, rubbed further salt in the wounds with his 76th-minute touchdown, powering his way through both Shanahan and Stockdale to cross and Laidlaw added the extras.

Ulster’s final offensive was foiled by a huge tackle on Marshall which forced a knock-on. Their hopes now rest on winning next week in Belfast which would put them in a strong position to go through as one of the top three runners-up – or even as pool winners should ‘Quins do them a favour.